These birds are Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata). They are neither rare, nor particularly shy, but they do turn up in some odd places. This is the only duck on my garden list, as I once spotted a pair sat on the chimney pot of my house!
They are about 48 cm long and have a liking for fresh grass. The males are the birds with the solid chocolate coloured heads, and the females have paler heads and stripes above and below the eyes. These ducks nest in tree hollows near or over water. One thing that I would dearly love to see in the chicks parachuting out of the nest. This happens very soon after they have emerged from the egg!
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It was only as I was putting this post together that I noticed this birds tendency to put its head to one side in a rather attractivley photogenic fashion! I think I like them all the more for doing that!
Now its your turn.
Click the link below and away you go. Here is a challenge: invite one other blogger to join in WBW this week!
57 comments:
loving the wood ducks and especialy to get the pics of the ducklings was special. Can't see 'the link' tonight, will watch out for it later.
Quite different from ours "over here" but always beautiful :)
PS - I'm not seeing the linky either... I'll check back :)
I love our wood ducks. For a couple of years they nested in a dead redgum in our farmyard. Unfortunately I missed the leap of faith. In the last few years, I have seen them only now and then on our dam. Hot, dry summers and drying dams are not the best place for waterbirds.
So sorry I have nothing to post this week. Birds are few and far between in our parched garden and I cannot as yet access my stash of photos on the extinct computer.
Being a cricket fan, I like your puns.
Great image series showing. The little ducklings are just so cute :)
Why that duck is turning its head because he is "paying ready attention" to you! Sorry that your cricket puns just go right over my head. Watching "Downton Abbey" did excite some interest in learning more about the sport, but I haven't acted upon it as yet. Wikipedia here I come!
Lovely ducks.
They are indeed photgenic birds!
The wood ducks pose is cute as can be and ducklings are adorable. Nice selection of shots Stewart.
My thanks for hosting WBW.
oh, they're adorable! love the chocolate brown heads and their head tilts. those bills are so small!
their nesting and 'plummeting' is very similar to our wood ducks we get in the states.
and ha ha to the bats and even bearing fruit. :) a whole 'nother pun set out of that, too.
As always, great serie of photos!
LOVE the ducklings :)
What a sweet duck family!
These look nothing at all like our Wood Ducks, but they're just as beautiful! I love the browns and the chest pattern! Fantastic shots!
I DO love the little ones...ducklings are so adorable!!
Lovely ducks Stewart and who couldn't love those ducklings .
baby ducks! One of my favorite things!! Love this post :)
Very different than ours, but so beautiful in their own way. The female Wood Ducks all seem to have a sweet face and, of course, who doesn't love baby ducklings. Your pictures are wonderful as always and we will savor you as our Wild Bird "Pun-dit". Love it again, Stewart. Looking forward to your nest post.
Andrea @ From The Sol
Stewart, the Australian Wood Duck is pretty! The chocolate head is pretty and I love the cute ducklings. It would be cool to see them parachuting out of the nest. Great shots, thanks for hosting!
Beautiful Duck! He has a short beak for a duck too. Great photos as usual! :)
These are lovely ducks. I've never had a duck on our chimney. From Findlay.
This is why I adore WBW! I get to see birds that I would not ordinarily see. These are awesome birds with such interesting markings. One of these days you'll get the babes parachuting, I hope. Your photographs are superb!
A lovely selection Stewart. Ducks on the chimney??.....I just can't imagine that, well I can actually and it conjures up a very funny image ;-)
I like the soft chocolate colors of their feathers.
Oh those little furry ducklings have won my heart!
Maybe their head turns were to say, here Stewart this is my best side. :)
Wonderful images!
Best of luck with the bat watching.
So cute! I've had them on the chimney too! Last time I was at the pool a pair jumped in and I cursed myself for not thinking to put my googles on and seeing their feet paddling along.
Great photos of the Wood Ducks. It always surprises me how they manage to walk along the edge of the road and still stay safe.
You have commented several times about sighting flags on the shorebirds - especially Victorian flags! In all the years I have watched shorebirds in this area I have only twice seen birds from down south. Once was a B.T.Godwit with an orange flag and once was a Ruddy Turnstone with all the flags usually put on those rather special birds (this one was reported immediately to the ones studying them). Check with your experts down your way but afaik your Victorian birds don't come this way. A lot of them come via northern W Aust. Of course vagrants are always possible - and I live in hopes!!
Hi Stewart!!Very beautiful ducks!!And the chicks ,looks cute!Excellent shots!!Thanks for sharing!Hope you have a lovely day!It's hot in Melbourne!!
Dimi..
your wood ducks are so pretty, ours have many colors but I think I like the mottled brown on yours. Would love to see those babies pop out of the nest. cheers.
those little ducklings are soooo precious!
Great shots, Stewart. I love the ducklings.
lovely ducks! so different than ours here in WI. USA. my first visit, followed a link as we are avid bird watchers & feeding them takes us to the poor house, but we enjoy it! thanks for hosting!
They are very lovely!
Love bats, hope you get lucky!
Beautiful birds!
These are really pretty ducks, the ducklings are adorable! And photogenic? What more could one ask of a duck?
I must admit Stewart. Identifying that duck had me stumped until I read the title and your commentary. Not one we have over here of course and I'm keeping fingers crossed our team don't suffer too many ducks this summer.
Adore those fluffy little ones! So beautiful! And love the patterns and tones on these ducks!
Very photogenic birds, such pretty ducklings & hey, I like your titles!
Pretty birds, beautifully captured, Stewart!
Those wood ducks are a cute bird. In the States our wood duck is different than that. I enjoy seeing birds that are new to me. Thanks for sharing & hosting.
Beautiful ducks Stewart and the ducklings are so cute. As the saying goes, nothing cuter than a box of baby ducks!
I absolutely love Wood Ducks... they did grow on me though!! They are everywhere up here but not so bold.
I love those little chicks! I have yet to see the Wood Duck chicks. Perhaps I should take some time out from chasing yet unseen birds and investigate the local duck population!
Beautiful shots, Stewart!!
Especially loved the little ducklings! I guess tiny creatures have a way of worming themselves into our hearts...
What marvelous captures, just wonderful! Hmm, wonder if you got any Bat images...haha. Have a great week and I look forward to your Raptor presentation~
I love this charming duck! The chocolate heads of the males are so pretty. But they are all lovely, male, female and ducklings! Cocking his head for the picture was too cute!
Wood ducks are so beautiful and interesting. Lovely photos! Thanks to TexWisGirl for mentioning your blog and linky party in her recent post. I tried to link my slow-motion birds/feeder video up from last week.. but not sure it worked. If not, I'll try again next week. Can't wait to check out the other links. Thanks! -Tammy
What beautiful ducks! I'm looking forward to the bats.
Hi Stewart... Your first shot is so cute the look your getting I think the duck was (paying ready
attention ) that makes the shot..plus I love the pattern on the chest!!
Ducklings are always a hit : )
Grace
I love wood ducks. I love your pictures. And of course you perhaps remember that I am rather fond of puns. So, a perfect post imho. Only thing wrong is that I don't have a little thumbnail picture under it. I'll be back.
My first time here - hopped over from Louisiana Belle and TexWis Girl. Beautiful series of these ducks!
Those are some cute babies!
Good shots but babies shot is extra lovely...
I agree - the head-cocking makes them all the more photogenic!
Beautiful photos of ducks Steward.
You ask me if I want to do with the WBW is very difficult for me.
My English is not very good, so I do not understand exactly what to do.
I hope you understand.
Greetings Irma
it´s a beautiful duck. Can´t remember seeing any shot of them before. :)
Love the Wood Duck shots! The North American Wood Duck has quite a different appearance, but, interestingly, the chicks also "parachute" from the nest.
I see these ducks are actually in the same scientific family, Anatidae.
I was going to respond to your cricket pun, but trying to understand the game is too much of a sticky wicket for me.
Have a good weekend! - Wally
VERY pretty! I haven't seen that coloring before. Not on a duck anyway...
Goodlooking ducks, I think, never seen them before. And very good photos of them.
Thanks for your thoughts, I'm now again after my surgery.
Greetings Pia
I gotta say, animals in Australia are a lot more interesting looking than up here. Even your ducks are neater looking.
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